Already interested last summer, before the player’s about-face, PSG would be working behind the scenes to recruit Lyon attacking midfielder Rayan Cherki from the winter transfer window according to FootMercato.
Although he didn’t defend much last Sunday at the Parc des Princes, which probably didn’t go unnoticed by Luis Enrique, Rayan Cherki delivered a brilliant assist for Georges Mikautadze against PSG. The kind of passes that we no longer see much in modern football and which make the young 21-year-old attacking midfielder from Lyon a rare player.
Under contract at Lyon until 2026, with an automatic additional year if he has not been transferred by the end of summer 2025, Rayan Cherki is undoubtedly having the best first part of the season his young career, finally with regularity and interesting statistics: 5 goals and 7 assists in 17 appearances in all competitions.
Aligned on the left wing at the Parc last Sunday, even if he moved a lot, Cherki can play in all three positions of the attack in support of the point and there is no doubt that his versatility is known and appreciated by Luis Enrique and Luis Campos , who had already tried to bring him to PSG last summer. Everything was completed for a transfer for 15 million euros before the player’s about-face.
A PSG/Liverpool duel this winter for Cherki?
And now ? According to several sources, Cherki’s value is now above 30 million euros since his extension last summer and his good performances in recent months. Last weekend, L’Equipe assured that Cherki was no longer really in PSG’s plans due to his price and his about-face last summer, which the Parisian leaders would not have digested. Not to mention the frosty relations between Nasser Al-Khelaïfi and John Textor.
On the other hand, PSG is looking for a new winger or a versatile offensive player depending on the sources and Rayan Cherki has this profile, in addition to being French, young and familiar with Ligue 1. It is in this context that FootMercato announces this Thursday that PSG and Liverpool are working to recruit Cherki this winter, while OL are banned from recruiting and must sell by next summer for several million euros or risk being demoted in League 2. PSG and Liverpool are presented by FM as the two hottest clubs in the Cherki file, without saying more about the position of OL and the player.
Cherki’s announced successor in Lyon from January 5?
Last Thursday, after OL’s 3-2 victory against Frankfurt, Cherki was asked about his future by Canal+ and said: “For now, there are still two matches left (only one left now). We’ll see at the end of the season if I’m still here or not.”he blurted out. Cherki has since played at the Parc and subsequently shared photos of PSG/OL on his X account with several hourglass emojis, which inevitably caused a lot of discussion on the social network. A few minutes later, the Lyon number 18 added another photo of himself with a Lion emoji.
Since these two tweets, his announced successor at OL, Thiago Almada, announced his arrival in Lyon on January 5 from Botafogo, to which Pierre Sage responded this Thursday at a press conference: “It’s quite surprising that a player would commit to this kind of statement, position. I imagine he was expressing a wish, but that is not official information. Only clubs can give this kind of information and I am therefore waiting for this information”declared the Lyon coach, before adding: “Almada is a player who has qualities similar to Rayan Cherki and Saïd Benrahma. It would always give us a technical touch in mastering the ball and impacting our opponent. »
